Tag.



W. D. SMITH.

TAG.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.27, 1912.

f minimal j? @L f2 5 '$125 I 9m@ 'f Y' O ,wat ATTORNEY UNITED tVfAifE@ FATFNT QFFQF.

WALTON DUANE SMITH, 0F P ROPHETSTOVN, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-THIRD T0 FRED L. ADAMS AND ONE-THIRD T0 JOHN A. FIRMAR', BOTH OF PROPHETS'I'OWN,

ILLINOIS.

TAG.

Speeeaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 25, 1913.

To @ZZ whom it may concern 13e it known that I, NALToN DUANE SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Prophetstown, in the county of 'Vhiteside and State of illinois, have invented a new and useful Tae, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in tags primarily adapted to be applied to clothing to display the price, size, etc., and particularly to that class of such tags which are constructed to engage the Shanks of buttons or other headed fastening means on garments, such as ready-made clothing, underwear, and the like.

One of the principal objects of my invention is to provide a marking tag, which can be easily and expeditiously attached to the shank of a button and will be firmly held in position thereon without the use of an adhesive or other auxiliary securing means, and will be very inexpensive to manufacture and economical in use.

With this and other objects in view,my invention consists in the construction and novel combination of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and set forth in the claimshereto appended; it being understood that various changes in form, proportion, size and minor details of construction within the scope oi the appended claims, may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

In the accompanying` drawings Figure 1 is a front view of my improved tag in an unfolded position, showing one of the button-engaging slots in position and about to be engaged with the shank of a button on a garment. Fig. .2 is a view, similar to that shown in Fig. 1, but showing the slot in engagement with the shank of the button. y Fig. 3 is a front view showing the slot of the l inner or under leaf in engagement with the shank of a button and the outer leaf in position ready to engage the same. Fig. 4 is a I front view showing the tag, as it' appears in use, with both leaves engaging the shank of a button. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line --az Fig. 4. Fig. G is a perspective view of the tag showing a method of interlocking the flaps or tongues on the; leaves, the flap or tongue of the inner orj under leaf resting on er above the iap or tongue of the outer leaf.

Referring to the drawings, which illustrate the preferred embodiment of my invention, 7 designates the tag, which is made of stiff paper, cardboard, or other suitable thin flexible material, and can be. cheaply manufactured by being stamped or cut from material in sheet form. In its unfolded position, shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the tag is preferably oblono' in general outline, and before being applied or positioned. on the shank of a button is fiat to facilitate 1nanufacture and shipment. The tag may be scored or marked transversely at its center, as at 8, in order to facilitate folding and to define the leaves 9 and 10, but it may be stated that the transverse crease line 8 is not essential, and if desired may be omitted.

Near the free end of each of theleaves 9 and 10 are provided. transversely-arranged slots 11 and 12, respectively, which are similar in design and shape, but as illustrated are oppositely-disposed with respect to each other, or face in opposite directions. To form the slots 11 and 12, the opposite side edge of each leaf 9 and 10 is cut-away inwardly on curved lines to form a rounded or curved side 11a and 12a respectively, which extend to a point substantially at the longitudinal center of the respective leaves 9 and 10, and joining or continuing from the inner end of the rounded sides are longitudinally-disposed semi-circular cut-out portions 11b and 12b respectively, serving as the end walls of their respective slots 11 and 12. From the outer or other ends of the semi-circular cntout portions 11D and 12b, the other sides of the slots 1]. and 12 are outwardly curved to form a rounded side or projection 11c and 12C respectively, which extend slightly toward their respective opposite curved sides 11a and 12a to form a contracted throat or passage for. the slots 11 and 12. From the outer end of the curve forming the projections 11c and 12. the outer portion of the upper parts of the leaves 9 and 10 is abruptly rounded off, as at 11d and 12d, respectively, until it meets with the outer ends of the respective leaves, thereby reducing the width of that portion of the leaves lying between the slots and the ends of the leaves, forming flaps or tongues 13 and 14, respectively.

It follows from the above description that the slots are provided with relatively wide, oppositely-rounded entrances, which are slightly contracted at a point in iear of their entrances.

To apply the tag it is simply necessary to take the tag 7 in the hand, and bring the wide entrance of the slot 11 of the under leaf opposite the shank 15 of the button 16 en a garment, as shown in Fig. 1, then push the tag toward the shank 15 of the button 16 until it occupies the position shown in Fig. 2, with the shank resting against the end wall 11b of the slot, then fold the tag along its transverse crease line S, then bend the outer leaf to the right of and beneath the button, as exhibited in Fig. 3, until the slot 12 is to the right of the shank of the button and the wide entrance of the slot is opposite the shank of the button, when the outer leaf 10 can be pushed to the left until the shank of the button is fully seated in the semi-circular opening and the tag will assume the position depicted in Fig. 4.

In positioning` the tag on the shank 15 of .the button 16, as just described, the inherent resiliency ofthe stiff paper card board or other suitable material of which the tag is made, is utilized so that when the outer leaf 10 is bent laterally to bring the entrance of the slot 12 opposite the shank 15, it is effected against the torsional resistance of the inner leaf 9, and hence when both leaves are in register and engaged with the shank, the tag is held firmly in place by each leaf resisting any lateral movement of the other.

As illustrated in Fig. 4, the leaves 9 and 10 are of corresponding size and shape so that when the tag is in its folded and operative position, the tag presents a uniform outline with its bottom or lower end and sides constituting straight lines and its top rounded as shown. The flaps 13 and 14 formed by the slots at the free ends of the leaves are shorter than the width of the tag, as shown and previously described, to facilitate their being manipulated, and as the iaps extend in opposite directions their deficiencies in length are supplied by the other leaf, which covers the same, whereby the symmetrical outline of the tag is preserved, aiid furthermore there are no long iiaps or projections to curl up or become entangled, for as is obvious the button will aid in holding the short flaps in position.

As illustrated in Fig. 6, when applying the tag to the shank 15 of a button 1G on a garment, the flaps 13 and 14 can be iiiterhooked, if desired, that is, the flap 14 of the outer leaf 10 can be pushed under the flap 13 of the inner leaf 9, thus causing the leaves of the folded tag to lie close to gether. As is apparent, the tag can be readily applied to the shank of a button with the flaps 13 and 14 interlocked, it simply being necessary, when the tag is in the position shown in Fig. 3, to slip the flap 14 of the outer leaf 10 under the flap 1B of the inner leaf, and then push the outer leaf in place, when the tag will be in position.

It will be noted that when the. tag is in an operative position, as shown in Figs. 4, 5 and G, the two oppositely-disposed, semicircular cut-out portions 11b and 12b will mate or combine to form a circular aperture which will not bind the shank of the button but receive the same freely, and hence any turning of the tag with the shank as a pivot will not in any way affect or tend to disarrange the leaves of oi' displace the tag. As will be noted, the rounded projections 11c and 12c extending into their respective slots 11 and 12 serve the purpose of hooking onto the shank of a button, as shown in Fig. A2, which serves to aid in preventing the accidental lateral displacement of the tag during the operation of fully positioning the tag on @the slianik. When one face of one ofmy tags has been used, the tag can be reversed so that the unused face will be exposed and the used face will be turned to lie against the garment. Also, when both outer or exposed faces of the tag have been used, the tag can, if desired, be turned, so as to fold the two used faces toward each other, when two fresh or unused faces will be presented for marking in turn. Thus four marking faces are provided on each tag. The reason for this will be made plain when it is stated that both leaves are duplicates and the flaps and slots are oppositely disposed. This is the broad feature of novelty of the present invention.

What I claini is 1. A tag adapted to be connected to the shank of a headed fastening carried by the article to be tagged, said tag comprising an inherently resilient sheet folded transversely intermediate its ends to form inner and outer oppositely disposed substantially flat lying leaves, said leaves contiguons their free ends being provided with oppositely disposed slots which open out at the sides to permit either of said leaves to be moved laterally in opposite directions against the torsional resistance o-f each other to engage with or be disengaged from the shank of said headed fastening, whereby a lateral movement of either of said leaves will be resisted by the other.

2. A tag adapted to be connected to the shank of a headed fastening carried by the article to be tagged, said tag comprising an inherently resilient sheet folded transversely intermediate its ends to form inner and outer o-ppositely disposed substantially flat lying leaves, said leaves contiguous their free ends being provided with oppositely disposed transverse slots which extend inwardly from the side edges to a point past the longitudinal centers of said leaves and have relatively wide entrances, so that when said leaves are overlapped and the slots are in register an aperture for said shank will be formed by the inner portions of said slots, whereby said leaves may be moved laterally in opposite directions against the torsional resistance of each other to engage 4with or be disengaged from the shank of such headed fastening, the lateral movement of either of said leaves resisting the other.

3. As an article of manufact-ure, an inherently resilient sheet folded transversely intermediate its ends to form inner and outer oppositely disposed substantially flat lying leaves, each leaf near its free end being provided with a transverse slot eX- tending inwardly from one of the side edges, thereby defining a iiap on the free end of each leaf beyond the slot, the slots being oppositely disposed on the respective leaves, so as to cause the flaps to face in opposite directions, each flap extending toward the side edge of the leaf in which the slot is formed but terminating short of said edge, the flap of one leaf engaging the iiap of the other leaf, whereby said leaves can be moved laterally in opposite directions against the torsional resistance of each other to disengage the iiaps and when the flaps are in engagement a lateral movement of either of said leaves will be resisted by the other.

4. An article of manufacture comprising a sheet folded transversely intermediate its ends to form oppositely disposed leaves, said leaves being provided contiguous their free ends with oppositely disposed transverse slots having their entrances facing the sides of the leaves, said slots defining oppositely disposed flaps at the free ends of said leaves beyond the slots, said flaps having their free ends terminating short of the side edges of the leaves, the flap of the outer leaf engaging beneath the flap of the inner leaf to interlock said iiaps and hold said leaves together.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WALTON DUANE SMITH.

Vitnesses:

H. M. FAssETT, J. E. KELLOGG.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C. 

